Police: Man thought he was meeting 13-year-old for sex

Minutes after a Seattle undercover detective investigating Internet crimes against children placed an ad, he got a reply.

Lawrence Ray Leggett, a 27-year-old Seattle man, was interested, the detective said in court documents.

“This began a lengthy communication stream,” the detective wrote in an affidavit used to charge Leggett this week with attempted rape of a child in the second degree.

Over a week, the detective, who said he had a 13-year-old girl who enjoyed having sex with men, communicated with Leggett by e-mail, text message and face to face.

On the morning of July 15, Leggett went to the Edgewater Hotel on the Seattle’s waterfront for what he thought was to connect with the 13-year-old prostitute. Instead, he was arrested.

Court documents say he was carrying condoms and a bottle of lubricant.

Under questioning, he said he would have had sex with the 13-year-old girl had she been at the location, court documents say.

The detective said in the affidavit that he remained intentionally vague on the investigation “if some of the details are leaked that would severely hamper and possibly shut down ongoing investigations of adults sexually victimizing children.”

Bail of $50,000 was set in the case.

Leggett is employed at the Chocolate Box in downtown Seattle, where he worked in the shop and led tours, said Michel Brotman, an owner of the shop.